Activist says missing video proves his innocence

An activist arrested while filming police in downtown Orlando is preparing for trial, but he says the video camera that would prove his innocence has gone missing.

John Kurtz has a history of videotaping police as a member of CopWatch, an organization whose members hope their cameras discourage officers from what they think are unnecessarily violent arrests. Kurtz was also in the spotlight last summer, when he handed out sandwiches in front of City Hall in defiance of a city ordinance regulating the feeding of the homeless in downtown parks.

But this time, the 27-year-old real estate broker could land in prison.

"My arrest was a clear violation of the first amendment," Kurtz said. "I was arrested for filming police, and OPD knows it."

In the early morning hours of New Year's Day, Kurtz came upon Orlando officers arresting a man for domestic violence. He began filming, and Officer Adam Gruler later wrote in a report that Kurtz came too close as he and another officer were trying to restrain the man. According to an arrest report, Kurtz told one of the officers to "calm down" because he was on video.

Gruler tried to move Kurtz back, but Kurtz stood his ground and — according to Gruler — pushed him.

"As I continued to attempt to direct the defendant away from our working area he intentionally used his left arm and hand and shoved me on my left chest," Gruler wrote. "Due to the defendant's continued resistance, I conducted a take down of the defendant, directing him to the ground."

But Kurtz says he did nothing to provoke his arrest, and say the video he was shooting during the incident would verify his version of what happened that night — if it could be found.

Kurtz said the camera was in his hand when he was arrested. But police say it was never taken into custody and secured as evidence. Nor was it among the personal possessions returned to Kurtz when he was released on bail.

"We still need to get to the bottom of where this video camera is, which could be very important to this case," said Mark Longwell, Kurtz's lawyer. "At best, maybe they misplaced it. At worst, something more sinister."

Kurtz is charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest without violence and obstructing an officer. His trial is scheduled for next month. He faces a maximum penalty of six years in prison.

Fellow activists showed up to show their support at a pre-trial hearing at the Orange County Courthouse on Monday. About a dozen people joined Kurtz in the courtroom, and all wore nametags saying "I am John Kurtz."

It's not his first run-in with Orlando police. He was arrested in November after police accused him of simulating a sex act on a police car. That disorderly conduct charge was later dropped.